Seeking Help in the Shadow of Doubt: The Sensemaking Processes Underlying How Nurses Decide Whom to Ask for Advice

Although scholars often assume that individuals seek out experts when they need help, recent research suggests that seeking help from experts can be costly. The authors propose that perceiving potential help providers as accessible or trustworthy can reduce the costs of seeking help and thus encoura...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied psychology 2009-09, Vol.94 (5), p.1261-1274
Main Authors: Hofmann, David A, Lei, Zhike, Grant, Adam M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accessibility
Adult
Applied psychology
Attitudes
Biological and medical sciences
Decision Making
Experience Level
Experts
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Health care
Help Seeking Behavior
Human
Humans
Interprofessional Relations
Linear Models
Male
Mentors
Multivariate Analysis
Nurses
Nursing Staff, Hospital - education
Nursing Staff, Hospital - psychology
Occupational psychology
Organizational behavior
Organizational commitment
Perceptions
Professional Role
Psychological factors
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Sociological analysis
Sociometric Techniques
Studies
Trust
Trust (Social Behavior)
Trustworthiness
Uncertainty
United States
Work condition. Job performance. Stress
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Summary:Although scholars often assume that individuals seek out experts when they need help, recent research suggests that seeking help from experts can be costly. The authors propose that perceiving potential help providers as accessible or trustworthy can reduce the costs of seeking help and thus encourage individuals to seek help from experts. They further predict that perceptions of potential help providers' expertise, accessibility, and trustworthiness are shaped by their experience, formal roles, and organizational commitment. They investigated their theoretical model in a study of 146 nurses on the front lines of healthcare. They found that the decision to seek out help depends on help-seekers' perceptions of experts' accessibility and trustworthiness, and that these perceptions are predicted by experience, formal roles, and affective organizational commitment. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
ISSN:0021-9010
1939-1854
DOI:10.1037/a0016557